Pardon me if you’ve heard this one before, but the discography of German psychedelojammers Electric Moon isn’t exactly the most transparent of undertakings. In addition to their studio full-lengths, they have self-pressed CD-Rs and a slew and then some of live albums to dig into, and more on the regular. Last year they issued the Stardust Rituals LP through longtime imprint Sulatron Records, founded and run by guitarist/synthesist Dave “Sula Bassana” Schmidt, and it was a welcome return after some six years of live outings, 2016’s Live 2015 – Zeiss Planetarium Bochum (review here), 2015’s Theory of Mind (review here), 2014’s Mind Explosion (review here), 2013’s Live 2012 1 & 2 (review here), and so on. With a sound so based on improvisation, sonic wandering and exploring the chemistry between the players involved — Schmidt, bassist/sometimes-vocalist/graphic artist “Komet Lulu” Neudeck and several drummers; Marcus Schnitzler played on the latest record but seems to have since been replaced by returning founder Pablo Carneval — just about any show properly recorded can turn into a live release. Because live releases are kind of the point. There wouldn’t be a band if they couldn’t do it on stage.

And since on stage is where Electric Moon are inherently most in their element, a studio outing from them is something of an event. They first released Inferno in 2011 on a CD-R and then followed up with an official Sulatron pressing in 2012. It has been through several editions since then on CD and vinyl, and got a proper reissue in 2015. It is comprised of just two tracks:

1. Mental Record (14:24)
2. Inferno (51:54)

Obviously between them, the latter cut is going to get the vast majority of the focus. It’s a one-song album, essentially, with a bonus track put first. And I won’t take away from what Sula, Lulu and then-drummer Alex do on “Mental Record,” but the unmitigated swirl of “Inferno” is simply in a league of its own when it comes to tapping into the heart of heavy psychedelia. Electric Moon aren’t the only band in the underground to take an improv-rooted approach to heavy psychedelia, but theirs is one of particular, enduring and evolving character. They have their methods, to be sure, with Schmidt‘s synth running alongside the guitar or the cyclical turns of drums in “Inferno” past the 10-minute mark, but the key seems to be always working to find something new in the sound or the style of play. An experimental tweak here, a little extra howl in the guitar there. And every now and again, vocals. As with few others, Electric Moon seem wholly comfortable in allowing their material to become what it needs to be, the band acting more as vessels for what flows from all of them together rather than individual players following their own agendas. They’re in there, to be sure, but channeling something through themselves in a way that most bands simply don’t or can’t do. It’s not about ego or about virtuosity, but about the spirit and the worship of creativity itself, about capturing the heart of the moment when that new idea happens. About putting that to tape and pressing it up to share with a dedicated fanbase that’s only grown more dedicated over time.

Electric Moon are not a trifling band. They’re not just plugging in their instruments, arranging a bunch of cymbals and making noise. They follow a course that takes them to the inner workings of psychedelia. The long, jammed-out pieces that many others would carve into songs, split into verses and choruses, etc., Electric Moon serves up raw in what always seems to be their original form. Some of the songs on Stardust Rituals had a discernible structure, but that’s more the exception than the rule. Builds come and go, loud parts, quiet parts, guitar scorch and funky rhythms as on “Mental Record,” driven space-rock triumph as in the middle of “Inferno,” but Electric Moon seem to try never to be in the same place twice, and so very often they’ll end up someplace completely separate from where they started, and this is where the chemistry particularly between Sula and Lulu saves them, since there doesn’t seem to be a place where one leads that the other can’t or won’t follow. Or if there is, it certainly doesn’t make it onto the record.

And it may well be that Electric Moon sit down and plan out when their changes will arrive, when part G goes into part H on “Inferno” — somewhere around 35 minutes in, maybe? — but that wouldn’t make their project any less impressive in its scope. What they do brims with such a sense of the real that its spacious sound is still often resoundingly human, as it ends up being while “Inferno” makes its way through is slower back half, fuzzy lead guitar taking hold at around 43 minutes and serving as the bed for the apex wash that gives way at 50 minutes on the dot to the languid meandering that caps the last couple minutes. Inferno is an especially vital example of the spark that exists in what they do, but that spark is just about everywhere in their — again — somewhat opaque catalog. And while it may sometimes be difficult to keep straight which release came before which other release, what was when and which is a reissue — let alone which reissue — the basic fact is that wherever one chooses to dive in, that lunar pool runs singularly deep.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

—

I woke up Monday at 5:30AM to start working on the review of the last day of Maryland Doom Fest 2018. I’d gone to bed I guess around 1AM? I don’t even know. Anyway, that would turn out to be the latest I slept this week. After driving about six hours from Maryland to Connecticut, The Patient Mrs. and I have been staying here all week with The Pecan and her sister’s two kids, who are lovely, and their dog, as well as our dog and her mother’s dog. It hasn’t been a little, and I’ve kept my alarm set for 3:30AM all week so I could wake up and do Obelisk stuff before the baby gets up, which lately he’s been doing at five or so. Today it was closer to six, but he was also up at 4:45AM for a feed/diaper-change session. I’d call it brutal, but whatever.

Accordingly, you might’ve noticed it’s been four-post days most of this week except for today, which was five. So much going on all week is why, but it’s also the fact that since I was at the fest all weekend I didn’t get the chance to get my usual day-ahead jump on the week. Generally, what’s written over the weekend gets posted on Monday, what’s written on Monday posted Tuesday, Tuesday on Wednesday, and so on. Barring stuff like Brant Bjork announcing a new record that I feel like needs to get up as soon as it comes in — I’m waiting for Uncle Acid to announce their new album’s release date any minute now, any day, any week — I don’t usually have a problem working that way. It’s nice to have reviews done ahead of time. This week I couldn’t do that, so it’s been a little more manic.

And speaking of manic, this all coincided with me putting a kybosh on taking my meds as of late last week. I was cruising for a few days, did pretty well at Doom Fest — at least for me — but then I had like three days in a row of welling up in tears for no reason and, well, I guess we’re just not quite there yet. Back on the pills. To quote a government official: “womp womp.” Was worth a shot, anyhow. I cut out the anti-anxiety meds and that seems to have gone alright, so I’ll take my wins where I can get them.

Next week is busy. This weekend is busy. Life is busy. Here’s what’s in the notes, all subject to change as ever:

Mon.: Yawning Man review/stream; Dunbarrow track premiere; Entierro announcement.
Tue.: Brant Bjork review/premiere; Boss Keloid video.
Wed.: Seedy Jeezus review.
Thu.: Planet of Doom: First Contact EP review.
Fri.: Open at the moment, maybe Bong Six Dumb Questions.

That’s it. I’m punching out and going to spend as much of the rest of the day watching baseball as possible. Or maybe I’ll just watch that fucking Heilung video for the 80th time. Because it’s summer, and hot out, and whatever, I’m tired and want to be on the couch. Tomorrow, more writing. Monday, more posting. Maybe if I’m lucky some more sleeping. Probably not the last of those.

Oh and I need to empty the dishwasher. Fuck.

Alright. Have a great and safe weekend. If you’re celebrating the Fourth of July next week in the US — first of all, fucking why?, but second, be safe and not stupid about it. Have a great time if you’re the type to let yourself do so, and if not, back on your pills you go. Ha.

Thanks again for reading. Forum and Radio.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

So No Man’s Valley have a new album… not quite. To be more accurate, they’ve got songs and intentions toward a new album. The Dutch heavy psychedelic blues rockers have aligned themselves to Tonzonen Records for the follow-up to 2016’s Time Travel (review here), and they’ve set themselves toward an early 2019 release. They’re even currently in the studio, but they’ve set up a crowdfunding campaign in order to cover their costs there as they work to finalize the release. They’ve got posters from their appearance at Freak Valley, album preorders, shirts, and private show opportunities within a reasonable distance from their hometown — they’ve even got their own P.A., so I mean, if you’re having a backyard barbecue in Den Haag or something, that might be fun — as well as other claimable whatnots for those who donate, and the campaign is nearly a third of the way to its goal with 31 days still to go.

The band was kind enough to send some info down the PR wire about the new record’s making and how listeners can help. It all looks an awful lot like this:

No Man’s Valley – Outside The Dream on Tonzonen Records

Dutch psychbluesers No Man’s Valley are thrilled to announce the coming of their second album Outside The Dream on limited Vinyl and CD. They will work together with Tonzonen Records from Germany (The Spacelords, Psychic Lemon, Mouth) for this release which will see the light of day around early 2019. The record is being produced at the moment by Matthijs Kievit (Bartek), and will be mastered by Pieter Kloos (Motorpsycho, Astrosoniq, Dool).

We Need You

The band have already started recording, but they still need some financial support. So for the coming 30 days they have launched a crowdfunding campaign which should help them fund their ambitious project, while gaining the opportunity to secure one of those highly limited gems, next to some other personal band items like posters and photographs. Donate here: https://www.voordekunst.nl/projecten/7467-no-mans-valley-second-album-on-vinyl

Outside The Dream

Outside The Dream is the story of how to transform personal backlash into something new and positive. This personal weight makes sure the band has gotten more to the core of their strength. Never before did the band sound so vulnerable yet at the same time so powerful.

www.nomansvalley.com
https://www.facebook.com/nomansvalley
https://twitter.com/nomansvalley
https://instagram.com/nomansvalley/
nomansvalley.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/Tonzonen/
https://www.instagram.com/tonzonenrecords/
https://www.tonzonen.de

No Man’s Valley, Time Travel (2016)

[Click play above to stream ‘Vialys Pt. I & II’ from Spaceslug’s Eye the Tide. Album is out July 20 on BSFD Records.]

Comprised of drummer/vocalist Kamil Ziólkowski, bassist/vocalist Jan Rutka and guitarist/backing vocalist Bartosz Janik, Poland’s Spaceslug have worked quickly to become a significant presence in the European heavy underground. Their 2016 debut, Lemanis (review here) and its 2017 follow-up, Time Travel Dilemma (review here), were both among their respective years’ best releases, and they even found room last year to squeeze in an EP release in the form of Mountains and Reminiscence (review here) before embarking on their third full-length and the final installment in a stated trilogy, which arrives as the six-song/54-minute Eye the Tide on BSFD Records. Their advantage has always been a decisive grip on their aesthetic — from the first album on, they’ve had a definite idea what Spaceslug should sound like in terms of tone, rhythm and melody, and after earning comparisons to Sungrazer early for their heavy psychedelic drift and blend of thick guitar and bass with floating vocal melodicism, they’ve worked over their releases to make that sound even more their own. It has never been more so than it is on Eye the Tide.

The big difference this time around? An uptick in the level of aggression. Opener “Obsolith” still casts post-rocking lead guitar lines out into the ether, but in its nod under the chorus, there’s just something more pointed about their approach, and that manifests even further in the post-midpoint bassy chug of second cut “Spaced by One” before the mostly-chill, mostly-patient “Eternal Monuments,” but is most prevalent as side B begins with the slamming “Words Like Stones” and the first harsher vocals arrive. Screams. They run at first alongside the laid back, clean-sung vocals that have become one of the hallmarks of Spaceslug‘s style, but at 3:35 into the track’s total 8:28, there’s a sudden pivot and the guitar goes full-on black metal and those screams come more to the forefront. Likewise, the drums take a more intense pulse, and as they move toward the halfway mark, seemingly all of a sudden, Spaceslug have cast an extreme vision of charred heavy psychedelia. They turn to a long instrumental stretch soon enough, but the context has shifted, and when the vocals return after the seven-minute mark, it’s both the throat-rippers and the clean singing, but the screams are definitely in the top position, whereas even just at the beginning of the song, they were in the background.

That back-to-front movement itself is important in understanding the poise and class with which Spaceslug carry out their ideas, and especially that with which they introduce a jarring new element to their audience. After a stretch of threatening-in-context squibbly guitars in the penultimate “Vialys Pt. I & II,” the screams come again on Eye the Tide closer “I, the Tide” as background and preface to the mountainous chug that will snow-cap the album’s 11:16 longest cut. But the second time is more a part of a summary of what the album as a whole has accomplished, and it’s really that first assault that’s more striking.

To-date, Spaceslug have been a pretty easy-going listen. Maybe not heavy-hippies, but not by any means abrasive. “Words Like Stones” changes that, and adds an undeniably metallic flair to the proceedings. It makes one want to go back to Time Travel Dilemma and Lemanis? Has that influence always been there, lurking beneath the surface of their ultra-molten psychedelic flow? Maybe it has. More likely than not, but it’s still a surprise when the screams hit if only because it brings that new aspect of Spaceslug‘s sound so far forward amid the still-relatively-peaceful surroundings.

Is it enough to turn listeners off? Probably not, unless they’re completely averse to any screamed vocals at any time, in which case that’s more about a policy position than this actual album’s use of an element in Spaceslug‘s sound. In the full scope of Eye the Tide as a whole, it works well to jar the experience after the band has dropped subtle instrumental hints of what’s coming on “Obsolith,” “Spaced by One” and “Eternal Monuments,” the latter a nine-minute patient unfolding that turns from its extended intro serenity to a cyclical riff that’s positively crushed in its tone and an apex that, until its side B mirror in the closer, is the most satisfying on the record. In the spirit of heavy rock tradition, they save the experimentation for the album’s second half, but when the time comes, they deliver with boldness and confidence alike, just as they always have, and the screams serve to enhance and broaden “Words Like Stones” rather than detract from it. Ultimately, they make Spaceslug a richer, less predictable band, and that’s never a bad thing. The anti-scream crowd will either have to come around or not. Spaceslug could just be getting started on their most important stylistic work yet, and as they haven’t yet, I wouldn’t expect them to let anything get in the way of their steamroller of a sound.

And it’s important to remember that as striking as those moments are, that’s just it. They’re moments. Parts of the whole impression Eye the Tide makes, and whether it’s the calm initial stretch or the later linear build in “Vialys Pt. I & II” or the push of Ziólkowski‘s drums behind the unfolding second half of “Obsolith” or the consuming motion of the finale in “I, the Tide” which manages to be as hypnotic as it is pummeling as it moves through its midsection to the instrumental second half and the megastomper riffing that caps the album as a whole, there’s much more to Spaceslug‘s third outing than “the part where the dude screams.” That becomes a piece of the larger picture, and the band do well to integrate it into their overall sphere. Will there be more? Is it indicative of some shift toward a more extreme direction? Is this to be their longer-standing contribution to psychedelia? Hell if I know. It works here, and that’s enough for right now. If nothing else Spaceslug have earned a certain element of trust via the quality of their songwriting and aesthetic execution over their now-complete trilogy, and if they can pull off such a sharp turn as they do on this third-of-three, it seems all the more worth continuing to follow them and see where they go next.

Spaceslug, “Obsolith” official video

Spaceslug on Thee Facebooks

Spaceslug on Bandcamp

Spaceslug on Instagram

Oak Island Records on Thee Facebooks

Oak Island Records at Kozmik Artifactz

BSFD Records on Thee Facebooks

BSFD Records website

Stoned Jesus will release their fourth album, Pilgrims, on Sept. 7 as their first offering through Napalm Records. That in itself makes it a pretty pivotal moment for the Ukrainian heavy rock forerunners, but the big question going into the record is exactly where it will find the band following 2015’s The Harvest (review here) since they more or less spent the last year digging back to celebrate the fifth anniversary of YouTube’s favorite heavy rock record, their sophomore LP, 2012’s Seven Thunders Roar (review here). They toured playing that record in full, and with such a sharp sonic divide between its warm and stonerly tones and the sharper edges of The Harvest, I’ve been genuinely curious to find out exactly what kind of pilgrimage Stoned Jesus are going on with the new collection.

We get a first hint in the trio’s new video for the song “Hands Resist Him.” Amid the most resonant melodies I’ve yet heard from Stoned Jesus, they do indeed dig into a depth of tone that the last album seemed to eschew, but there’s a turn around the 4:30 mark to speedier riffing that finds guitarist/vocalist Igor Sidorenko, bassist Serhij Sljussar and drummer Dmytro Zinchenko pushing into an almost punkish rhythm, so it’s not as if the aesthetic growth brought to bear in The Harvest has been ignored or cast off. It’s there too. The question that remains is how much “Hands Resist Him” speaks for the rest of Pilgrims, and knowing Stoned Jesus‘ sneakily progressive bent as it’s emerged in their sound over time, I’d guess that there’s probably more to the new record than they’re letting on. They’re not the types to give away all the answers outright. They want their listeners to do some digging.

And no doubt there will be plenty to dig when the album arrives, since Stoned Jesus have always been songwriters first and foremost even as their style has proved so malleable over the course of the eight years since they made their debut with 2010’s First Communion. Following a hometown release show on Sept. 7 in Kiev, the band will be heading out on a Sound of Liberation-presented tour alongside Texas troublemakers Mothership and UK tone rollers Elephant Tree that runs for just over three weeks across a swath of Europe. Like Pilgrims itself, it’s an important tour since it will be Stoned Jesus in the headlining spot with support from two also-killer bands, and another pivotal step-up moment for them as they continue to live up to the potential they’ve shown in their work all along.

I’m thrilled today to host the premiere of the “Hands Resist Him” video, which surely stretched Napalm‘s budget as regards the fog machine. You’ll find the clip below, followed by a quick quote from Sidorenko and the tour dates, courtesy of the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

Stoned Jesus, “Hands Resist Him” official video premiere

Igor Sidorenko on “Hands Resist Him”:

I guess this track is a perfect example of the changes I’m going through as a songwriter and Stoned Jesus is going through as a band. It’s dark, heavy and intense, but it’s a great song first and foremost.

On September 7th STONED JESUS will deliver their next solid slab of progressive stoner rock on Napalm Records: Pilgrims.

With their fourth album the Ukrainian trio offers much more than an average desert session: Pilgrims is a rather multi-faceted affair mixing groove with noise rock elements, lots of proggy infusions and maybe even a sick bass line reminiscent of good old Deftones (“Thessalia”). Giants such as Mastodon and Melvins come to mind since STONED JESUS can’t be pigeonholed.

Stoned Jesus tour dates:
14.07.18 SP – Viveiro / Resurrection Fest
27.07.18 DE – Neuensee / Rock im Wald
02.08.18 GR – Almiros / Los Almiros
19.08.18 FR – Saint-Nolff / Motocultor
02.09.18 GR – Thessaloniki / Street Mode

Stoned Jesus w/ Mothership & Elephant Tree
07.09.18 UA – Kyiv / Bingo Club (Stoned Jesus only)
13.09.18 DE – Wiesbaden / Schlachthof
14.09.18 DE – Stuttgart / JH Hallschlag
15.09.18 CH – Pratteln / Z 7
17.09.18 DE – Munich / Feierwerk
18.09.18 AT – Graz / PPC
19.09.18 AT – Vienna / Arena
20.09.18 DE – Leipzig / Werk 2
21.09.18 DE – Berlin / Bi Nuu
22.09.18 NL – Nijmegen / Doornroosje
23.09.18 NL – Amsterdam / Melkweg
24.09.18 DE – Köln / Helios 37
25.09.18 DE – Bielefeld / Forum
26.09.18 BE – Brussels / Magasin 4
27.09.18 FR – Paris / Petit Bain
28.09.18 UK – London /The Garage
29.09.18 UK – Sheffield / Doom vs Stoner Festival
12.10.18 UA – Lviv / FESTrepublic
19.10.18 UA – Kharkiv / ART AREA DK
20.10.18 UA – Dnipro / Makhno Pub

Line-up:
Ihor Sydorenko – Vocals & Guitars
Serhij Sljussar – Bass
Dmytro Zinchenko – Drums

Stoned Jesus on Twitter

Stoned Jesus on Thee Facebooks

Stoned Jesus on Instagram

Napalm Records website

Napalm Records on Thee Facebooks

Good word from the UK in that sludge rockers Kurokuma will release a new EP, titled Dope Rider, on vinyl in August through Doom Stew Records. The three-piece have a string of Eastern European tour dates booked in order to celebrate the impending two-songer, which is based around a comic series of the same name. They showed influences psychedelic and tribal on their prior outing, 2016’s Advorsus, which is streaming at the bottom of this post, and since that release, they’ve toured with the likes of Conan, DVNE, among others. I wouldn’t necessarily predict how the new release will sound — and I can’t pretend not to have heard it while talking about it, because, hey, I actually haven’t heard it — but I wouldn’t be surprised if their road experience translates into an even broader scope.

We’ll find out when we get there, of course, but in the meantime, shows in Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Lithuania and Latvia should bring them to the attention of that region’s passionate underground and help their cause generally. The extremity they brought to Advorsus was visceral in its three-track rollout, and as they center around a narrative structure, there’s an opportunity to bring new progressive sensibility to the proceedings.

So proceed. The following came in hot on the PR wire:

Kurokuma Eastern Europe Tour 2018

UK psychedelic sludge band, Kurokuma slash their way through Eastern Europe this August, hitting up Rockstadt Festival in Romania and Brutal Assault in Czech Republic along the way. Playing alongside the likes of Obituary and Converge, this is their first time in mainland Europe. There will also be a performance at Berlin’s independent cinema, ZUKUNFT am Ostkreuz, in conjunction with a screening of The Doom Doc.

The tour is in support of their Dope Rider EP which comes out on vinyl, CD and cassette through San Fran’s Doom Stew Records in the same month. The EP contains two lengthy tracks in tribute to Dope Rider, a graphic fiction story originally printed in High Times starting in the 1970s. The release features artwork by the strip’s creator, Paul Kirchner; the vinyl version especially features a whole Dope Rider story on the insert. The EP was recorded at The Cro’s Nest by Slabdragger’s Sam Thredder and mastered at Skyhammer Studio by Chris Fielding.

4/8 Rockstadt – Brasov, Romania
5/8 Revolver Sound Studio – Budapest, Hungary
6/8 Garaze – Bratislava, Slovakia
7/8 Bar Pod Hodinam – Kolin, Czech Republic
8/8 Brutal Assault – Jaromer, Czech Republic
11/8 Zukunft am Ostkreuz – Berlin, Germany
12/8 Chmury – Warsaw, Poland
13/8 Carpenter Inn – Olsztyn, Poland
14/8 XI20 – Vilnius, Lithuania
15/8 Melno Cepurisu Balerija – Jelgava, Latvia

https://www.facebook.com/kurokumauk/
http://kurokumauk.bandcamp.com/
@kurokumauk
https://www.doomstew.com/

Kurokuma, Advorsus (2016)

Underrated heavy blues rockers Dirty Streets have a new record coming out, and if you’ve ever dug on some choice riffing, laid back grooves and weighted soul, you probably already know that’s good news. It’s been given the title Distractions and judging by the cover — which I’m told I’m not supposed to do but am doing anyway — it would seem to be somewhat in conversation with the business of our age. To wit, I believe I see a reference to cat memes on the bottom there (the cat), but if you look at the center of the eye in the middle of the piece, you’ll see there’s nothing good, so, you know, the message is pretty clear.

With the Dirty Streets though, the groove and melody are always key. Their last record was 2015’s jeez-I-hope-they’re-not-on-the-bad-drugs White Horse (review here), which was released by Alive Records, and as the 2015 LP found them on tour with the likes of Lo-Pan, The Atomic Bitchwax and Spirit Caravan for months at a clip, one expects the new one to do likewise. It’s been a while since I’ve seen these cats, and I’ll gladly say out loud that I’d be happy to again. Details are pretty few and far between on the album as of now, but there’s a new live video posted for the song “Loving Man” filmed for I Listen to Memphis that finds them very much in their element. If the rest of the long-player pans out in similar fashion, we’ll all be lucky.

From the social medias:

Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, a hub of historical soul and blues that crafted much of the world’s modern music, Dirty Streets have spent years on the road and in the studio forging their own style. They’ve moved from DIY, independant recordings to ambitiously self-produced studio ventures over the course of five albums. Their fifth, and latest, LP, Distractions, is an explosively charged follow-up to their acclaimed 2015 release White Horse, which contains a unique style of heavy, soulful and sometimes psychedelic rock. Recorded at the historic Sam Phillips Recording studio in Memphis, the album pushes the sonic palette of the band to the next level with an eclectic mix of songs. Drawing from influences that span from the bluesy twang of Howlin’ Wolf and Wilson Pickett, to the heady expansiveness of Hendrix and Donovan, Distractions lives in its own time and place. The album was recorded live in the studio by Matt Qualls and Wesley Graham in the room where the raw and explosive energy of the Yardbirds’ iconic “Train Kept a Rollin’” was originally put to tape. This album continues the tradition.

Dirty Streets’ Distractions will be available September 14th on vinyl, CD, digital and streaming formats.

DISTRACTIONS TRACK LISTING:
01 Loving Man
02 The Sound
03 Dreams
04 Riding High
05 Can’t Go Back
06 Distractions
07 Take A Walk
08 Death’s Creep
09 On The Way
10 Trying To Remember

DIRTY STREETS is:
Thomas Storz
Justin Toland
Andrew Denham

https://www.facebook.com/thedirtystreets/
https://www.instagram.com/thedirtystreets/
https://dirtystreets.bandcamp.com/
http://www.dirtystreetsmusic.com

Dirty Streets, “Loving Man” live at The Beach House

The quote at the beginning of the new video by Massachusetts death-doomers Conclave is credited to Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and it’s hard to read it with anything other than irony given the fact that the United States has spent the last 17 years embroiled in its longest ongoing conflict which, and it’s sad that this is still a debate, was confused, misdirected and reactionary from the start. Lee, of course, was speaking about the American Civil War between the northern and southern parts of the country, and the story goes that Conclave — the current lineup of bassist/vocalist Jerry Orne, guitarists Jeremy Kibort and Chris Giguere and drummer Dan Blomquist — were passing through Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on their way to play last year’s Maryland Doom Fest and the song came out of that experience born of then-guitarist Terry Savastano‘s fascination with the years-long conflict. They recorded the track with Savastano still in the band — he’s presently killing it in Come to Grief — and shared the video on the occasion of this year’s edition of that same festival this past weekend. The track also appears on Death Kiss Vol. 2, a compilation from Death Kiss Radio on respected Boston-based freeform station WEMF.

Its relevance goes well beyond Doom Fest though, and the ripples of that Civil War which ended 153 years ago are still being felt in the cultural struggle in the US today. The regional markers aren’t as clear as they once were — that is, it’s not just the north being the north and the south being the south — but in many ways, America has never stopped fighting that battle for and against progress. Imagined futures and imagined pasts collide daily as ideas of becoming “great again” and moving toward a “brighter tomorrow” both perpetrate equally vague notions of a largely make-believe ideal. Media stokes that, but isn’t a driving force no matter what anyone says otherwise — sorry, but the American press doesn’t have the budget for conspiracies — and with their minds taffy-pulled to distraction by petty scandals and non-issues, people don’t see the other hand reaching into the fabric of their democracy and ripping it to shreds with gold-painted fingernails while a nasally voice reiterates that this is what “winning” feels like. It’s a shitty time to be an American, and there’s a long way to go before we hit bottom.

I don’t know Conclave‘s politics, and they’re secondary at best to the song itself, which doesn’t so much celebrate war as convey the horror of it through its sludgy extremity and downtrodden riffing. The band have a couple choice live dates coming up over the next few months, including playing Churchburn‘s record release show at Dusk in Providence (nice.) and joining forces with Come to Grief Sept. 15 at the worth-the-drive Ralph’s Rock Diner in Worcester, MA.

Those dates and more info follow the clip, which you can see on the player below.

Please enjoy:

Conclave, “War Stalks the Land” official video

1 year ago we visited Gettysburg on our way to The maryland DOOM Fest where finality came to us for our song War Stalks The Land. It is only fitting that we share this visual aid with you today as The Maryland Doom Fest 2018 is crushing in grand fashion.

“It is well that war is so terrible, lest we should grow too fond of it.”

Recorded at Amps vs. Ohms by Glenn Smith and mastered at New Alliance East by Nick Z for the Death Kiss Volume 2 compilation.

JUL 14 Dusk Providence, RI Armageddon Shop Presents: Churchburn Record Release Show
AUG 31 Great Scott Allston MA w/ Dopethrone, Crud, Leather Lung
SEP 8 Altones Jewett City CT w/ Toke and Crossing Rubicon
SEP 15 Ralph’s Rock Diner Worcester MA w/ Come to Grief, Chained, Bogha

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Deathkiss Vol. 2 on Bandcamp

[Click play above to stream ‘Ch Ch Ch Ch Pt. II (Living in My Dream)’ from Black Space Riders’ Amoretum Vol. 2. Album is out July 27.]

That must have been one hell of a writing session. At the very beginning of this year, German progressonauts Black Space Riders issued Amoretum Vol. 1 (review here), which wildly spanned genres across an eight-track/45-minute run. It was said at the time that Amoretum Vol. 2 — think: “an arboretum of love” — would follow closely behind, and one could hardly do anything but take the band at their word. But they’ve followed chapters one and two, which coincided with the two sides of the first LP, with a double-album — sides C, D, E and F — that total a whopping 14 tracks and 68 minutes. I don’t want to go around telling anyone their business, but Black Space Riders might have considered putting together a few more songs and adding a Vol. 3 to the saga. After all, everyone loves a good trilogy, and December will be here before any of us know it.

All kidding aside, the project is resoundingly ambitious in its concept and in the actual execution of its stylistic drive. Those familiar with Black Space Riders‘ prior work — 2016’s Beyond Refugeeum EP (discussed here), 2015’s Refugeeum (review here) long-player, 2014’s D:REI (discussed here), 2012’s Light is the New Black (review here) and their 2010 self-titled debut (review here) — know that the band has grown to encompass a significant creative sphere, and that they’re no strangers to hopping from genre to genre or experimenting with their sound in order to make a specific statement. As to the statement they’re making with Amoretum Vol. 2 and really the pair of both records with the title, it might be summed up in the hook of second track “Lovelovelovelovelovelovelovelove Love (Break the Pattern of Fear),” which proffers the following: “Fear leads to anger, fear leads to hate/Hate leads to suffering, suffering and pain/So love love love love love love love love,” etc.

That chorus arrives amid a manic tumult of thoughtful and hard-hitting progressive metal that caps in galloping drums beneath and a keyboard line above muted crashes in succession and of course leads to the ambient linear build of “Walls Away” and the winding Celtic-inspired riff of “Slaínte (Salud, Dinero, Amor),” because that’s how it goes with Black Space Riders at this stage in their tenure: it goes. Far. The initials-only returning lineup of guitarist/vocalist/organist/programmer JE and compatriots, vocalist Seb, drummer/percussionist C.RIP, guitarist SLI, bassist SAQ and newer bassist MEI continue aggressive thrust on “Assimilating Love” and earlier cuts like opener “Before My Eyes,” “Lovelovelovelovelovelovelovelove Love (Break the Pattern of Fear),” and the later “Ch Ch Ch Ch Pt. II (Living in My Dream),” but this is no more a defining factor than the atmospheric breadth of highlight cut “Leaves of Life (Falling Down),” the resonant guitars of chapter five leadoff “Take Me to the Stars” or the harsh-vocals over post-rock guitar on the penultimate “No Way.” Scope is what Black Space Riders do best.

It works because they don’t lose track of the songcraft in that process. And again, that must have been one hell of a writing session. To come out of it with a collection of at least 22 total tracks topping 100 minutes between them to spread across two albums while working across aesthetics around a consistent theme? Not a minor undertaking and a considerable achievement in the realization. As Amoretum Vol. 2 dives deeper into its chapters, the vibe becomes even thicker. “Take Me to the Stars” leads into the seven-minute cosmic drone build of “Ch Ch Ch Ch Pt. I (The Ugly Corruptor),” which leads the way fluidly into the nodding intro riff of “Ch Ch Ch Ch Pt. II (Living in My Dream),” and while “Chain Reaction” has its hand-claps, standout bassline, percussion and gang shouts, its pace is still more or less in the middle, giving itself over to the willful incongruity of manic drums and post-rock airy guitar in “No Way,” that transition also somehow smooth into the quiet start of 13-minute closer “The Wait is Never Over.”

And of course that final track is a focal point. How could it not be? Black Space Riders, whose sense of purpose is writ large in every facet of Amoretum, set themselves to the task of summarizing the stretch they’ve undertaken, and there’s just about no way they didn’t know when they were putting it together that “The Wait is Never Over” would finish off record(s). There’s simply nowhere else to put it. An initial linear build starts from silence to comprise the first half of the song while a break after the halfway point brings it down to almost reggae-rhythmed mellow vibes, only to surge out again and cap with a residual noise. All the while, controlled keyboard and effects swirls, vocals, bass and drums match pace with the guitar, giving a forward mentality consistent with what’s come before but stretching beyond prior limits. At around 10 minutes, the noise wash arrives to carry Amoretum Vol. 2 to its finish, ring-outs and crashes marking the end of the band’s journey. They might’ve been able to do a Vol. 3 if they wanted, but there’s little question left as to the fact that they’ve finished Vol. 2.

These are interesting and in some ways deeply trying times. Alliances that have lasted decades are dissipating. Centers of global power and leadership are shifting. Not all changes are for the better, and that’s a vicious, vicious understatement. Black Space Riders seem to be offering a reminder of the human center of all the sociopolitical goings on — that it’s not just about vague or even concrete notions of policy, or populism, or economics, but about people living their lives and working to make the world around them a little better for their being there. “In Our Garden” reminds of this with its peaceful and methodical drift, as does the urgency of Amoretum Vol. 2 earlier going. It may well be that the album is looking to convey the idea of the place where love grows, and if so, all the better, since love and passion are so obviously behind the creative spirit that birthed it in the first place.

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